Quattro pezzi sacri

"This is the second album with Leenaars conducting this combination, following 2019's choral music of Brahms ... Though the album cover only displays the Quattro pezzi sacri, the program is filled out with a second work by Verdi (the Pater noster), as well as works by Rossini, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Marco Enrico Bossi, and the Requiem by Puccini ... It is a harmonically and dynamically challenging set of works, alternating between a cappella sections and full chorus and orchestra ... A notable addition here is the recorded premiere of Bossi's 1920 hymn A Raffaello Divino, an a cappella work composed for the 400th anniversary of the death of Renaissance artist Raphael with text by Fausto Salvatori. The Rundfunkchor Berlin is well-honed by Leenaars and tackles this challenging program well".

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"Meget af den musik [kirkelig kormusik] er indadvendt, sørgelig og polyfon, mens Skt. Cecilia-koret er stort, ufokuseret, klang- og vibratomæssigt tungt og meget ofte i underkanten af at synge rent ... Der er gribende øjeblikke ... Maria Agrest gør det godt i 'Libera me', koret er også smidigere her ... Men det er kun fem minutter, ikke nok til at anbefale cd'en".

"Vurdering: BBC music choral song choice" - "Agresta is able to display the warmth and tenderness of her soprano in music that suits it extremely well ... Once again, Pappano's blend of deep understanding and infallible instinct helps him arrive at a performance of unusual conviction".

"A mixed Verdi collection including a couple of unusual items ... visionary, destilled examples of Verdi's late style whose mystery Noseda presents with considerable sensitivity".

"Vor allem aber erlebt man ein Musikdrama in zehn Strophen, in dem, ganz nah am Text, Pathos und intimer Rückzug dicht nebeneinander stehen - ein packendes Gefühlspanorama".